Workshops and Talks, November 2013, Vienna

The final meeting of PATTERNS Lectures 2012/2013 took place from 15 to 17 November 2013 at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and was entitled “PATTERNS Lectures Workshops and Talks”. It brought together some 30 participants from the partner universities (lecturers and university representatives), PATTERNS Lectures advisors and experts from the area of higher education, mostly specialising in arts and culture. This was the second meeting within the project schedule and aimed to promote networking and exchange between partners as well as help gain insight into new teaching practices and learn about innovative research methods.

The meeting started with a discovery session, encouraging participants to share positive impressions gathered during the implementation of their projects and giving them a platform to recount their “success stories”, provide insights and raise questions, which were then discussed in bigger groups. The session resulted in intensive exchange, lively discussions and valuable insights, conclusions and questions.

That evening the public talks were opened by Christine Böhler, director of ERSTE Foundation’s Culture Programme, who presented the two speakers: art historian and curator, Ruth Noack, and curator and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Suzana Milevska. Their presentations focused on educational approaches to curating contemporary art and on the topic of “art historian becoming-curator”. Their input provided a basis for an open discussion which was moderated by Georg Schöllhammer, editor and curator. The discussion covered a broad range of subjects: from different art education systems and difficulties in teaching and practising curating, to the issue of feminism and gender equality in the arts.

The second day started with a recap, followed by an insightful talk by Melita Kovačević, who is vice-rector for research and technology at the University of Zagreb, on the topic of “Higher Education in a New Context: SEE Regional Perspective”. The group then split into two, with lecturers joining the workshop held by Ruth Noack, focusing on the question “How do we want to teach?”, and university representatives participating in the workshop conducted by Melita Kovačević, focusing on the subject of improving university management for the benefit of the institution. PATTERNS Lectures advisors and the project team from ERSTE Foundation and WUS Austria joined the sessions as well. In both workshops, participants were divided up into smaller groups, allowing for in-depth discussion and exchange. During these discussions, it became clear that there are not only still a lot of differences in the region when it comes to teaching and management, but also global challenges facing all higher education institutions with regard to the rapidly growing higher education “market” and new developments in that sector.

The last day of the meeting featured guided tours of the Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the Museum of Modern Art Vienna (mumok).

The event was hosted by ERSTE Foundation and took place at the Atelierhaus of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, together with WUS Austria as the implementing organisation of PATTERNS Lectures. The full programme can be downloaded here.